Technology - DAWs (an introduction to)

The term DAWs is widely used to describle the physical hardware you have at your disposal for creating sounds, manipulating audio and most obvious.. recording your sounds and playing them back.
DAW stands for Digital Audio Workstation (the same term applies to video).
A DAW in its most basic form consists of a computer and some kind of sequencing software, with a number of peripheral devices attached. The devices you use depend on your needs.

A typical BASIC DAW would consist of the following:

• PC/MAC Computer system running a sequencer.
• Mouse/Keyboard (possibly a midi controller).
• Computer monitor (aka VGA monitor).
  
• A pair of speakers (Monitors to use the correct term)
• relevent software.

in contrast my setup would read:

• Dedicated Audio production system (PC based) & Laptop running sequencers.
  
• Mouse/Keyboard/Midi Controllers/Audio & Midi Patchbays.
• Hardware Mixers (2).
• Hardware effects/dynamics processors.
• Samplers.
• MID Keyboard/controller.
• Drum Machines.
• MPC5000 <-- A standalone DAW in its own right, but in this situation acting as a synth/sampler.
• VGA monitors (multi-out).
• pair of Monitors (amplified, no need for seperate amp).

Being that the DAW is essentially the heart of your studio (home or professional) its well worthwhile thinking in advance of how the music/videos you create will be effected/hindered by your choice of hardware software. (*see AD/DA in my section on Samplers)

The components of your PC will have a direct effect on the rendering process of your audio or video. You may not realise that until you render the same audio/video on another DAW system.

My personal practice/routine goes as follows... 'If its a draft version it gets rendered on the laptop; byt 'if its important it gets rendered on the dedicated audio/studio PC'. Comparing files rendered on both systems using hi-resolution monitors will show you exactly how your rendered audio/video is being coloured by the components of your DAW.

Being an Audiophile I want to ensure that I get the highest qaulity I can from the sounds I create, however in practicle terms its not always nessary. Experiment, sometimes the lesser quality (coloured) sound sounds better than the ultra hi-res counterpart, its a matter of taste but always good to be aware of rather than not.